I have a co-worker just bought an F3 with around 20K miles. He is insistant on replacing the cam chain, thinking it is stretched. But, I am insuring him the aftermarket CCT will tighten it up and no need to go through the entire trouble of replacing the chain.
Here is the question; has anyone heard of the chain stretching or breaking to cause any engine problems on a F3?

 

well others can answer that questions better then I can, but a Manual CCT is the way to go. f3s are known for that rattling sound when the automatic CCT gets bad. the manual versions is raved about all up and down this forum and I have no issues to speak of yet.

 

It would be highly unlikely for a 20k bike to have worn out the cam-chain.
It rides in an oil-bath in a sealed environment.

Now 20k IS time to have the valves run-out. Money is better spent on that
task. I guess while you are there you could inspect it, if it's a cause for concern.
Same for the CCT.

Ern

 

He says it is 32K miles on it. But I keep reassuring him that a manual cct will get that chain noise to go away.

 

If it's not bumping up against 6 digit mileage, I wouldn't even give the cam chain another thought.

 

I keep telling him, but he is insisting it needs to be replaced. I keep saying"why"?

 

Waste of money, sweat and blood. If he's taking it to the dealership for the work, he'd definitely spend his money better having the clearances checked / adjusted and having a new cctl put in form him.

 

If he is that tore up wanting to change the chain also. Let him do it, people learn from there mistakes. Trust me, he will learn

 

I just put a new OEM CCT on one with 43k that was rattling like a bastard. It's quiet now. I think I changed out the original since all the patina matched.

 

If he thinks the noise is from a bad chain, he's going to be disappointed when it's changed and still making noise. As everyone is saying, it's the CCT. I usually go with the OEM CCT because it's a install it and forget it. The manual will have to have the tension set correctly once installed.